Common Cause shifts stance on legislative redistricting

Group cites lack of time in a new call for strict monitoring of task force

By JIMMY VIELKIND Capitol bureau

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, September 21, 2011

ALBANY -- Saying it's too late to replace the legislative task force that's been drawing new electoral districts, a good government group is calling for stricter criteria to guide its process.

Common Cause told the Times Union it is breaking from other advocates who have asked for the task force, called LATFOR, to be replaced by an independent, non-partisan entity.

All the groups -- as well as Gov. Andrew Cuomo -- have derided the current format for drawing political lines as little more than a system for protecting incumbents who hold the majority.

"Of course we support an independent commission, but what we think has to be clear is that it is equally or more important how the lines are drawn, and less who draws the lines, at this late stage," said Common Cause Executive Director Susan Lerner. "The criteria, at the end of the day, control the map."

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The new tactic could reduce the political quagmire surrounding LATFOR. Cuomo has threatened to veto any district lines "that are not drawn by an independent commission, that are partisan," but has held off making a clearer threat to veto LATFOR's work.

The governor submitted a bill earlier this year to create a new commission, but it went nowhere in the Legislature -- Republicans who control the Senate and Democrats dominating the Assembly seemed quite happy to keep the status quo for this round of redistricting, which will last for 10 years. LATFOR has been conducting hearings all summer, including three forums this week in New York City.

A veto would likely throw the construction of the final map into the courts. This would be anathema to Senate Republicans, who hold a bare 32-vote majority in the chamber. Political observers say the ability to tweak district lines is crucial to the Republicans' ability to stay in power, and they have been loath to cede any control over the process -- their reform bill, which passed the Senate in March, sets in motion a constitutional change that would not take effect for a decade.

The Common Cause proposal would directly task LATFOR with drawing districts for the Senate, Assembly and Congress that consider "communities of interest," such as ethnic neighborhoods of similar towns, and forbid it from considering addresses of incumbents or the partisan enrollment of voters in a given area. Districts could vary in size by 6 percent, down from 10 percent.

Some of the ideas are contained in Cuomo's proposed bill. Currently, LATFOR's districts must not dilute the representation of racial minorities; it is required to draw districts that are "compact and contiguous," and try to keep whole counties, towns and villages.

The Common Cause proposal could create cover for all parties to move forward and, mutedly, the political players opened the door to the idea. Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto said, "We appreciate Common Cause's proposal and will review it."

But other good government groups, still hoping for a negotiated agreement that will yield an independent panel, said Common Cause's breakaway was irresponsible.

"They're dead wrong. They don't know the state of discussions going on right now among the three parties critical to making that decision," said Dick Dadey, executive director of the Citizens Union.

His group has worked closely with former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who last year pressured a majority of lawmakers in each house to sign a pledge committed to independent redistricting.

"This would inappropriately let lawmakers off the hook from a pledge they made to the voters of New York," Dadey said. "There is still plenty of time to create an impartial process that puts the pen in the hand of an independent panel. What counts in this process, at the end of the day, is who holds the pen when the final maps are drawn."

Lerner disagreed. "The first thing that helps you get to a gerrymandered map is drawing around the residence of the incumbent. If you take that out of the equation, a lot of dominoes won't start falling into place based on it," she said. "And the Legislature has been very adroit in resisting change -- they otherwise ran out the clock."